Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Online Gifted Conference
There's an online conference on very young gifted children in progress right now, and I'm receiving all the email. It's fascinating to see how parents are reacting to their gifted kids and it's got me musing about my own childhood.
I'm reading of some parents being worried that their kids will be bored in school if they teach them too much math/reading/fill in the blank. Some are saying that kids need to learn to deal with boredom! Some are saying it's important for social skills. The guest expert is quite rightly saying that options need to be explored and needs meet, often in a non-traditional way.
What I'm wondering is whether the No Child Left Behind legislation in the USA is producing more children who are bored in school and therefore a greater interest in and need for accomodation. A parent has also pointed out the vast difference between educational theory and practice, something I have noticed and wondered about. How can we ever progress when the systems set up to serve students are so debilitating, to students, parents, and teachers?
Despite best intentions of all concerned, it seems that the school system might have had its day, because it is based on a 19th century organizational model. Like modern corporations, these are very hard for the people who work in them, because the difference between modern thought and leisure and the reality of work or school is becoming wider and wider.
What to do? I think that the rise in homeschooling and self employment is showing that people can no longer tolerate these systems, and they must change or perish. But this has been true for a long time. Business thought and training is still based on a corporate model, at least that which I have been exposed to. I hope we can reach a tipping point soon.
Technorati tags: education gifted work
I'm reading of some parents being worried that their kids will be bored in school if they teach them too much math/reading/fill in the blank. Some are saying that kids need to learn to deal with boredom! Some are saying it's important for social skills. The guest expert is quite rightly saying that options need to be explored and needs meet, often in a non-traditional way.
What I'm wondering is whether the No Child Left Behind legislation in the USA is producing more children who are bored in school and therefore a greater interest in and need for accomodation. A parent has also pointed out the vast difference between educational theory and practice, something I have noticed and wondered about. How can we ever progress when the systems set up to serve students are so debilitating, to students, parents, and teachers?
Despite best intentions of all concerned, it seems that the school system might have had its day, because it is based on a 19th century organizational model. Like modern corporations, these are very hard for the people who work in them, because the difference between modern thought and leisure and the reality of work or school is becoming wider and wider.
What to do? I think that the rise in homeschooling and self employment is showing that people can no longer tolerate these systems, and they must change or perish. But this has been true for a long time. Business thought and training is still based on a corporate model, at least that which I have been exposed to. I hope we can reach a tipping point soon.
Technorati tags: education gifted work
